City Manager Robert Layton on Friday announced Deputy Chief Nelson Mosley will serve as Acting Police Chief and the process for filling the Wichita Police Department’s top job will include an operational assessment. Following is a summary of Layton’s remarks:

“When a Police Chief retires, it provides a valuable opportunity to evaluate where the department has been and where it needs to go. As such, I am announcing an organizational assessment of the department – an assessment that will be completed prior to the selection of a new Chief.

This assessment will review the Police Department’s mission and vision, identify its current strengths and weaknesses and develop a blueprint for its future. From this work, a job description for the new Police Chief will be prepared and the skill set needed to succeed in this position will be identified. Initially, it is anticipated that the assessment will focus on the following:

• Current operational policies and procedures;
• Community and employee relations;
• Organizational structure;
• Safety and training programs;
• Community policing model;
• Use of technology;
• Communication and engagement activities;
• And interagency relations.
  

This effort will be coordinated by Deputy Police Chief John Speer, with assistance from Deputy Police Chief Hassan Ramzah. The process will involve participation from the WPD’s command staff, FOP leadership, regional law enforcement officials, the District Attorney’s Office, the City’s Law Department, neighborhood and community leaders and other staff and community resources as needed. Where appropriate, current practices will be compared to best practices in other communities and performance data for comparable departments will be analyzed. The Center of Urban Studies at the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs will assist with the research, engagement and report writing portions of the assessment. The final report is to be completed by December 31, 2014.”